Transport in Turkey is road-dominated and mostly fuelled by diesel. Transport consumes a quarter of energy in Turkey, and is a major source of air pollution in Turkey and greenhouse gas emissions by Turkey. The World Health Organization has called for more active transport such as cycling.
The Eastern Express is an overnight passenger train operated by Turkish State Railways. The train runs from Ankara Railway Station to Kars Railway Station in Kars. The train was the first overnight service east of Ankara. The Eastern Express stops in 7 provincial capitals: Ankara, Kırıkkale, Kayseri, Sivas, Erzincan, Erzurum and Kars. The first train ran in 1936 from Istanbul's Haydarpaşa Terminal to Çetinkaya.
The Turkish State Railways (TCDD) started building high-speed rail lines in 2003. TCDD has branded its high-speed service as Yüksek Hızlı Tren (YHT) which currently operates on three lines: the Ankara–Istanbul high-speed railway and the Ankara–Konya high-speed railway and the Ankara-Sivas high-speed railway. YHT is the only high-speed rail service in Turkey, with two types of EMU train models operating at speeds of up to 250 km/h (155 mph) (HT65000) or 300 km/h (186 mph) (HT80000).
Turkey has a state-owned railway system built to standard gauge which falls under the remit of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. The primary rail carrier is the Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryolları (TCDD) which is responsible for all long-distance and cross-border freight and passenger trains. A number of other companies operate suburban passenger trains in urban conurbations.
TCDD E14000 were electric multiple unit used by the Turkish State Railways on their commuter rail services around Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. The 75 units were delivered starting in 1979 to supplement the aging E8000 units that were in use on the European Istanbul service, when the other commuter train services were electrified.
The TCDD E43000 is a twin-cab six-axle Bo-Bo-Bo electric locomotive used previously by the Turkish State Railways and currently by TCDD Taşımacılık in Turkey. The locomotives were designed by Toshiba and built by TÜLOMSAŞ at their Eskişehir shops. The locomotive is based on the JNR Class EF63 electric locomotive in Japan, built by Toshiba. The Turkish State Railways ordered 45 locomotives as part of the railways electrification program of the late-1980s early-1990s.
Ankara railway station is the main railway station in Ankara, Turkey, and is a major transportation hub within the city. The station is on the rail corridor which connects east and west Turkey, which is high speed between Istanbul and Sivas. Ankara station is also a hub for YHT high-speed trains, with its own exclusive platforms and concourse. TCDD Taşımacılık also operates intercity train service to Kars, Tatvan and Kurtalan as well as Başkentray commuter rail service.
The Adapazarı Express officially listed as the Haydarpaşa-Adapazarı Regional was a regional rail service, that ran between Istanbul and Adapazarı. For the majority of its time in service, it was the second-busiest route of the Turkish State Railways, after the Adana-Mersin Regional. Trains served a heavily populated region on the north-east shores of the Sea of Marmara, and the Sakarya plain so service was frequent, with 12 trains daily in each direction in 2012. The Regional service also passed through these important districts of Istanbul: Kadıköy, Maltepe, Kartal, Pendik, Tuzla as well as Gebze, İzmit and Adapazarı. Because of the cities the trains service, it had earned the nickname Metropolitan Express. The train used to service Coşkunoğulları station until the TOE factory was closed in 1991. It also serviced Acısu, Tepetarla and Kurtköy stations until 1998. Due to the construction of the Istanbul-Ankara high-speed railway, the Haydarpaşa-Adapazarı Regional was discontinued on 1 February 2012 in order to rehabilitate the existing railway line. On 5 January 2015 service between Arifiye and Pendik was reopened with new faster regional service known as the Ada Express.
The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey, abbreviated as TCDD, is a government-owned national railway company responsible with the ownership and maintenance of railway infrastructure in Turkey, as well as the planning and construction of new lines. TCDD was formed on 4 June 1929 as part of the nationalisation of railways in Turkey.
The Bosphorus Express, also known as the Trans Balkan Express, is an international passenger train running between Istanbul, Turkey and Bucharest, Romania. It runs together with the Istanbul-Sofia Express as far as Dimitrovgrad upon entering Bulgaria, where the latter continues to Sofia. The train is jointly operated by three national railways: the TCDD Taşımacılık (TCDD), the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ), and the Romanian State Railways (CFR). The train serves several important cities including Istanbul, Edirne, Stara Zagora, and Bucharest.
Edirne railway station is the main railway station in Edirne, Turkey. Located in the southeastern part of the city, TCDD Taşımacılık operates two international intercity trains, both from Istanbul, to Sofia, Bulgaria and Bucharest, Romania which stop at the station. Along with these two trains, TCDD Taşımacılık also operates a daily regional train from Kapıkule to Istanbul.
The Istanbul suburban railway, locally referred to as B1, was an important rail line in Istanbul, Turkey. It was operated by the Turkish State Railways and was one of Istanbul's two commuter rail lines. Carrying an average of 22,200 passengers daily, it was the second-busiest commuter railway in Turkey, after the Haydarpaşa suburban.
Yüksek Hızlı Tren or YHT is a high-speed rail service in Turkey, operated by TCDD Taşımacılık, and is the railway's premier intercity train service. As of 2022, the network spans 1,385 km (860.6 mi) and services major cities like Istanbul, Ankara, Eskişehir, İzmit and Konya. Expansion of the system is underway and the network is expected to reach Sivas, Edirne, Afyonkarahisar, Adana and İzmir in the 2020s.
Railways powered by electricity in Turkey comprised less than half of the network in 2020, but the aim is for over three-quarters by 2023. Along with these several Turkish cities operate rapid transit and tram system electrified with either overhead wire or third rail.
The TCDD E23000 series are Electric Multiple Units that were built by Hyundai Rotem, with delivery beginning in 2009. The E23000s were built to replace the E8000 and E14000 EMUs. Each set has 3 permanently coupled cars.
The TÜVASAŞ 2000, more commonly known as TVS2000, is a series of intercity railcars built by TÜVASAŞ for the Turkish State Railways between 1993 and 2005. They were built in order to revive TCDD's failing image in the early 1990s, for use on the Capital Express. Today they are the most common railcars in Turkey.
The Haydarpaşa suburban, also known as the Haydarpaşa-Gebze line and numbered as B2, was a commuter rail line operated by the Turkish State Railways, between Haydarpaşa Terminal in Kadıköy to Gebze. Since its opening in 1951, it was the busiest commuter rail line and busiest TCDD service in Turkey, until it was discontinued in 2013.
TCDD Transport is a government-owned railway company responsible for the operations of most passenger and freight rail in Turkey. The company was formed on 14 June 2016, splitting off from the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) to take over railway operations, while TCDD would continue to administer railway infrastructure. TCDD Taşımacılık officially began operations on 1 January 2017.
The Boğaziçi Express was a named passenger train operated between Istanbul and Ankara until 2012, when it was shortened between Arifiye and Ankara then later Arifiye to Eskişehir. The train was discontinued on 24 July 2014 and replaced by high-speed YHT trains.
Kartal railway station is a railway station in Kartal, Istanbul. The station was a stop on the Haydarpaşa suburban between 1951 and 2013, when the railway between Haydarpaşa and Pendik was closed. The station reopened to Marmaray commuter rail service on 12 March 2019. Prior to 2012, Kartal station was also a stop on the popular Adapazarı Express regional rail service to Adapazarı.
